New drug for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia passes early test

A new chemotherapy drug being investigated for its potency against two types of cancer was found by scientists to be effective in about one-third of the 58 patients who participated in a phase I study. The drug, alisertib or MLN8237, inhibits the enzyme aurora A kinase, which is known to be very active during cell division. The present study looks at the safety, tolerability, and preliminary success of alisertib in treating non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).